


Remedy

by FrankiValerie



Series: After Omega [18]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 04:34:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11547582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankiValerie/pseuds/FrankiValerie
Summary: Not a whole lot happening in this chapter, more action in the next one.





	Remedy

In the clinic, Caleb had fallen back into a drug-haze sleep and Mordin was checking over his stats with a nurse when Jack returned.

“Kidney’s irregular.  Lung condition apparent, unrelated to bullet.  Likely genetic.  Liver damaged. Usual for humans on Omega.  Worried about kidneys.  Please, nurse, run tests.”  Mordin muttered away to himself still, even when the nurse left.

Jack stepped forward, catching her breath, having run from Miles’ apartment, “Mordin.  He’s been poisoned.”

The salarian spun around, frowning, then caught sight of the vials Jack held out in her hand.  She began to explain, “‘Found the fucker who shot him.  These were in his--”

“Unusual for snipers to poison bullets.  Substance not detected in previous tests.  Custom, synthesised for purpose, perhaps. Interesting.  Will--” Mordin stopped when one of the monitors made a loud beeping sound and reached to mute it.

Jack froze, eyes wide, “What’s happening? What’s that beeping mean?”

Mordin took the vials from her and moved to leave, “Kidneys and bladder have been persisting problems.  Poison explains it.  Rate of decline increasing.  Still enough time to cure.”

She followed him but was struggling to take in the information, “Mordin, just… is he gonna live?”

Mordin stepped into his lab and got to work right away, “100% assurance impossible, but” He looked back to Jack, smiling, “Optimistic.” then disappeared into his lab.  

Jack pulled a second bullet from her pocket to look over it herself.  Now all she could do was wait for an update, she took her time looking over it.  There was a strangely familiar pattern delicately engraved around the base.  She frowned, raking her mind to find where she’d seen this before.  When the memory surfaced her jaw set and she stole away into an empty room.

She opened a call.  Her contact answered in a soft purr, “Jack, it’s been a while. Lovely to hear from you.”

She didn’t reciprocate the friendly greeting, “I’m holding of your sniper bullets in my hand, Stella.  Not two days ago Caleb had one of these in his chest.”

There was a pause on the end of the line, “... He’s not…?” Jack heard the worry in her voice, the undertone of panic.  

“He’s alive.  For now.”  Jack moved from the room and back to the door of Mordin’s lab, “You’re gonna help his doctor synthesise the antidote.” she entered the lab and transferred the call to one of Mordin’s terminals, opening up the vid link and leaning over so Stella could clearly see her face, holding up the bullet, “This _is_ one of yours?” She wanted to check, to be sure.  Mordin had glanced over Jack’s shoulder but otherwise kept working.  

Stella leaned forward to get a better look, nervously eyeing Jack, “Yes. That batch was a custom comission by a old contact. I assume Mr Miles is dead now?”

Jack’s jaw stiffened at the name, “Yes.”

“Good riddance, slimey bastard…”, she stood and moved to cabinet not far from her desk, I have the antidote formula to hand, it shouldn’t be difficult for your doctor to synthesise.”

“Just do it quickly.” Jack hissed.

Stella nodded, leaning forward again, close to the camera so Jack could clearly see her face; a small, kind and confident smile, “It’s a slow-acting poison, Jack, we have plenty of time.”

It was wasted on her, she was too tired to bother reading her expression, “Good. Because if he dies, Stel… You and Miles are gonna get reacquainted.” Jack straightened, turning the terminal toward Mordin then left the room again.

* * *

 

Of course Stella had been right, and of course she helped Mordin quickly recreate her antidote.  She and Jack had known each other a lot of years -- and even though they hardly spoke, even though Jack was often hostile toward Stella, there was something unspoken between them that meant one would do anything for the other.  Neither of them would call it a friendship, but that’s exactly what it was, however dysfunctional.  

So the antidote was administered, in plenty of time, and Mordin assured Jack that there would be no lasting damage, after praising Stella and her work.  She made him tell her 3 times that Caleb was going to be alright, just to make sure she’d heard him right.  She had breathing space again.  And this time she hugged Mordin.  

She was shooed out the room eventually by an older, burley human matron.  She said Caleb wouldn’t be awake again for a couple hours, that he was in good hands, then lectured Jack about how it was important she was looking after herself if she was planning on caring for him after his discharge.  Jack, relieved at the thought of Caleb leaving the clinic in good health, hadn’t the energy to put up a fight, but didn’t stay in the spare room and bed she had been led to.  She waited for the matron to disappear into Caleb’s room again then went to Mordin’s lab.  

“Mordin…” She began, perching on a nearby counter in his lab while he returned to work, “You’re ex-STG, right?”

“Yes.” was his simple answer.

“...You think there’s anything else I might’ve missed with this?  I got there in time, then got the shooter and was in time to save him from the poison… Think it’s likely there’ll be more surprises?  Something… I won’t be in time to stop?”

Mordin muttered something too quick and too quiet to catch then turned to her, meeting her gaze, “No.  Boss orders hit - sees it done.  Shooter has done his job, poison as precaution, not entirely necessary.  Boss assured of Caleb’s fate.  Will be satisfied.  Will no longer look into killing target he knows - thinks he knows - to be dead.” He smiled, “Nothing more to worry about.” then got back to his task.

Jack nodded, his words echoing in her head, she let them settle and convince her to calm down before pushing herself off the counter and smiling to him.  It was a forced smile, pushed through tiredness and a thin layer of worry, but she really had appreciated everything he’d done and hopefully that would be apparent, despite the forced expression.  “Guess I’ll go back out on clean up… Have someone ping my OT when he wakes up, please?”

Mordin nodded, “Certainly.  Will do this personally.  Be careful, Jack.”

She waved at him over her shoulder.  Relief had hit home finally.  Caleb was going to be alright.  Her shoulders and eyelids now felt so much heavier, her exhaustion finally setting in, she struggled to maintain a steady pace on her hurried route back to Miles’ place.

* * *

 

Her stomach growled and she swayed slightly, low blood sugar suddenly making her dizzy.  She decided she’d stop for food on the way back…then a hot dog vender stood at the end of the market trip, not 15 feet from her immediately changed her mind; the smell of burgers grilling caught her nostrils and she licked her lips, her stomach growling a command to her brain.

After buying a double bacon cheeseburger with all the extras she carried on to the apartment block, eating as she went and not caring at all how much mustard or ketchup was smeared over her lips.

She used the information she’d hacked from Miles to get into his apartment again and entirely ignored the stray glances she got from his neighbours.  She leant against the door on the other side and glared at his body, finishing off her burger, thinking.  Wondering what she should do with him.  She could burn his body.  She could do that without even moving him - her biotics would warp him into nothingness… eventually.  It would take hours.

She sighed, savouring the last bite of her burger and folded her arms.  Her mind wandering back to one contract in particular she’d run with an old prison buddy - which in retrospect is a bad idea after breaking out with that buddy because it makes it way easier for mercs and bounty hunters to zero in on ya.  But she and Cienna had been joined at the hip - and lovers.  They weren’t gonna part ways.

Cienna loved violence and killing just as much (if not more) as Jack but she made everything she did into art.  Everything needed to have a deeper meaning, it had to have her mark on it.  She’d taught Jack a lot.  And because of that she hadn’t killed Cienna when she’d screwed her over for another woman - instead Jack had gouged her eyes out and left her with a pistol in her hand.  She could either try to kill Jack as she walked away and hope for help or kill herself.  Some fates were worse than death - One lesson Jack didn’t need Cienna to teach her.

Still, because of Cienna’s lessons, Jack had begun to look at certain kills differently.  Now the good kills, the ones with names and faces, that had taken time and effort, like this one were potential works of art.  This one, she decided, she was going to share with Reyes.  It’d be the first stage of her plan to make him paranoid and scared.  No doubt it would go mostly ignored but she wanted it to stick to his subconscious and haunt him with every following step.  She found herself staring at Garrett’s pale face, twisted still with the fear he’d experienced in his last moments.  Her own face stretched into a cruel grin.  She had, after all, told Caleb that she wanted to tear his lungs out.  Or stick his rifle so far up his ass he’d spit heat sinks.  This warning wasn’t for Caleb, and it was unlikely she’d show him - or that he’d want to see - but it was inspiration enough.  And her first thought; why not indulge?

She glanced to the right side of the apartment, his shrine was still open and full, save for the two vials she’d taken back to the clinic.  She knew she couldn’t literally shove his rifle up his ass so far he’d spit heat sinks, the shape was all wrong and even with the force behind her biotics, it would be a headache.  And would leave little else for her to play with.  She could be creative. She peeled off her jacket and left it by the door then rubbed her hands together, cracked her knuckles and got to work.

An hour and a half later, she stood back, taking Miles’ OT from him, and admired her work.

Lungs removed and discarded on the floor, Jack had opened up Miles’ ribcage like a blossoming flower, she then tore off his head and used that to fill the cavity.  She’d had to remove his heart too and did think about keeping it as a souvenir, but was too disappointed to find it wasn’t actually a lump of coal and discarded that too.  Next she’d grabbed a heat sink from his shrine and stuffed it into his mouth.  She then decided that poison bullets would look great jammed into his eyes.  Finally she used her biotics to lift him up against the wall, and a biotic throw to impale him with his rifle - just into his upper torso, right above his head.  This pinned him to the wall, a fitting display, she thought.

She snapped a holo and attached it to a message, sending it straight to Reyes.  She threw the OT to the floor and tilted her head; was this worth getting a tat for?  What mark would she get? She snapped a holo on her own OT to admire later, went to the kitchen to wash the blood from her hands, grabbed up some booze and cigars from around the place, then headed back to the market - she’d buy some more of those burgers for Caleb.  No doubt he’d want to celebrate when all this was over.


End file.
